Isaac D. Kremer is a Main Street America Revitalization Professional (MSARP) and a Strategic Doing Practitioner. He is a nationally recognized expert in the Main Street Approach to commercial district revitalization with two decades of experience. This approach is comprehensive and incremental, emphasizing grassroots action in four areas — organization, promotion, design and economic vitality. He is an agile leader who has successfully led revitalization programs throughout the U.S.
His interests in place started at a very young age while growing up in and around the Detroit area. His mother was a small business owner sparking his interest in finding ways to support small businesses. Through his undergraduate and graduate studies he explored economic development, urban planning, and historic preservation.
Kremer has secured more than $3.5 million in grants and has leveraged more than $1 billion of investment. His work has been highlighted in over 30 national conferences. He has been a moderator, speaker or panelist for AARP Livable Communities, Main Street America, The Conservation Fund, International Downtown Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and others.
His writing has reached thousands of people. Articles he has written or contributed to are among the top read and shared by the National Main Street Center, NJ BIZ, and other sources. He has written on downtown revitalization, tactical urbanism, historic preservation, community planning, and placemaking.
From 2008 to 2012 as executive director of the Oyster Bay Main Street Association, Kremer led the restoration of President Theodore Roosevelt’s hometown of Oyster Bay on Long Island. This resulted in more than a dozen building renovation projects. Most notable was the $2.5 million restoration of the 1854 Octagon Hotel where Roosevelt campaigned for governor.
Billy Joel at the Better Block project (Photo credit: Mike Lydon)
While there he organized one of the first Better Block projects in the United States, working with residents to make low-cost changes to demonstrate the potential for long-term change. Famed singer Billy Joel was among the participants in that project. A public arts project with artist Jerelyn Hanrahan resulted in the temporary installation Graduated Pearls on the shore of Oyster Bay.
As executive director of Discover Downtown Middlesboro in Kentucky, Kremer attracted more than $1.1 million and mobilized hundreds of volunteers to build trails, encourage entrepreneurship and bring incremental change about through three more Better Block projects in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Before and after photos of the Levitt AMP Middlesboro Pop-Up Park in Kentucky in 2013 (left) and October 2016 with professional stage that was built and Grammy award winner Grady Champion in the foreground (Photo credit: Isaac Kremer).
Middlesboro won the national Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant award contest in 2015 and 2016 under his leadership. This has helped to bring 10 free concerts to a neglected public space that was transformed through creative placemaking. Middlesboro was also named a Great American Main Street Award Semi-finalist and “One to Watch” in 2014.
In Metuchen he further built on this track record, leading a strategic planning process. Two “transformation strategies” were selected to guide the work of the organization. Over $170 million of private investment transformed the downtown since 2016. A total of 149 businesses were opened and the vacancy rate reduced from over 20% to 4% under his watch.
During the pandemic Metuchen provided over $750,000 of funding to directly support small businesses. Outdoor dining equipment, infrared heaters, and curbside pickup zones were just a few of the innovations. During the pandemic 53 new businesses opened, leading to a net increase of businesses during the pandemic.
Public art was another major initiative of the Alliance. After establishment of a Public Art Policy in 2017, several murals were commissioned by leading artists including Stephen Powers, Ariel Rutland, Edward Wetzel, and Raul Ayala.
Metuchen was the second downtown Isaac has led, that became designated a Great American Main Street Award Semifinalist in September 2022 and the first named a GAMSA winner in March 2023 – one of only three from New Jersey and just over 100 communities nationally.
Isaac was selected as the founding executive director for Experience Princeton and started work with his fourth downtown management organization in October 2022. He led a brand development exercise leading to the Experience Princeton name and brand. For three years he organized Restaurant Week along with a volunteer team. He worked with over 60 volunteers on four standing teams and several action teams. Collectively they contributed over 10,000 volunteer hours to the work of the program. Princeton was named a Main Street New Jersey community in 2024 and received a $150,000 Main Street New Jersey transformation grant in 2025.
His education and training includes a master’s degree in historic preservation planning from Cornell University and a bachelor of arts degree in economics and management from Albion College in Albion, Michigan. His certifications included Main Street America Revitalization Professional (MSARP), Strategic Doing Practitioner from the Strategic Doing Institute, Historic Real Estate Finance from Grow America (formerly the National Development Council), Economic Development 101 from the International Economic Development Council, and How to Turn a Place Around from the Project for Public Spaces.
In his free time Isaac collects glossaries, dictionaries, style guides, architectural histories, and architectural terms. He is currently up to 186 sources and 72,530 terms and definitions. A total of 34,575 terms with definitions are published on this website.
His family purchased the ca. 1924 Sadie and Vanvert Tyrrell House in January 2020 and lovingly restored this historic home. He sang in the cathedral choir at St. Francis Cathedral from 2018 to 2025. Isaac travels every chance he can get, having visited over 400 cities in the U.S. and internationally.